A new “one-step” test allows breast cancer
patients to be treated directly if their disease
has spread, meaning that they no longer have
to wait weeks for test results to come back or
undergo a second operation.
Surgeons say that thousands of women undergoing
surgery could benefit from the rapid
diagnostic test, known as the breast lymph
node assay. It is already being used at hospitals
in Surrey and Portsmouth, and is due to be
recommended for implementation next year.
Quicker and more reliable than existing
checks, it involves analysing the glands under
the arms, to check if the cancer has already
spread, at the same time as a patient has a mastectomy
or surgery to remove an initial tumour.
Patients currently have to wait two to three
weeks after an operation for the results of
laboratory tests on these lymph nodes, and
may then face further surgery if their cancer has
spread.
But with the new assay, surgeons can obtain
results in a matter of minutes, allowing them to
treat the patient during the same operation.
Surgeons say that it could improve outcomes
for women with breast cancer by eliminating
the need for repeat operations and enable them
to start chemotherapy earlier. It could also save
the NHS money, by potentially avoiding 3,000
secondary surgeries each year.
Breast cancer is the most common type of
cancer in Britain, with about 46,000 women
receiving a diagnosis every year. Most patients
require surgery to remove a tumour or a whole
breast, but they will also undergo checks to find
if the cancer has spread to the lymph nodes.
About one patient in three will have a cancer
that has spread in this way — particularly those
with larger, “high-grade tumours” — but existing
ultrasound or biopsy checks have the potential
to miss 10 to 15 per cent of cases.